Knight Center research director Bruno Takahashi and faculty affiliate Manuel Chavez published a study titled “El Ambiente y Las Noticias: Understanding U.S. Spanish- Language Newsrooms’ Coverage of Environmental Issues” in the International Journal of Hispanic Media.
The study was co-authored with Juliet Pinto and Mercedes Vigón from Florida International University.
The researchers examined the content of environmental news in Spanish-language television stations and newspapers, reporting a very limited amount of coverage that mostly focused on specific events, such as hurricane Sandy.
They also interviewed 12 news professionals at various Spanish-language news organizations to examine their coverage of environmental issues. The findings demonstrate that the impact of revenue-streams needs, the perception that environmental news is not important, and the perception that environmental coverage lacks immediacy and impact are the main factors explaining the lack of coverage of issues such as climate change.
The results of the study are important because the Hispanic population will continue to grow in size and power in the U.S., and the coverage of environmental issues such as climate change will become more important for them. Understanding the gaps in the coverage and the factors preventing such coverage is a necessary step in improving environmental reporting by Spanish-language media.
The study can be accessed here.